How to Make Iced Coffee

I get a ton of questions asking how I make my iced coffee, so here’s a little picture tutorial to demonstrate the process. To brew my coffee, I use a standard auto-drip coffeemaker.

Start with 12 cups of water.

For 12 cups of water, I use 7 tbsp of ground coffee. If you prefer stronger coffee, use more ground coffee (8 tbsp); less for weaker coffee (6 tbsp). If you have a 10-cup coffeemaker, you could easily adjust these measurements. A good way to determine the coffee grounds to water ratio is 1 tbsp of coffee for every 2 cups of water.

I typically use heaping spoonfuls of ground coffee because I like my iced coffee strong! 😉

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Brew coffee as you normally would.

Pour coffee into a pitcher or thermos. If you do not have either of these, you can just put the coffepot itself into the fridge (once its temperature cools a little).

73 Comments

It is so hot out right now, but I still need a coffee fix! I am going to try out your recipe for iced coffee… Although it makes so much sense, last time I didn’t chill it over night, I just put ice in it, all the ice melted and I ended up with watered down coffee..not good. So I’m trying your way! Kudos.
-KenziePropane Burners

Tina – you have no idea how needed this was. For an iced coffee-aholic, my ice coffee almost always tastes like swill. So, this weekend my wallet (and sanity) is demanding that I learn how to make a decent glass of ice coffee. Plus – in Philly, our Dunkin’ crew can’t seem to make a decent cup of coffee – it’s sad 🙁

Thanks for putting this under your “recipes”! I was curious if you brewed it stronger or anything. I don’t have a full size coffee pot right now (short on space, its in storage) but I did brew a strong cup from my Kurieg and it worked great! Do you have a favorite type of coffee beans to use or do you just use whatever is on hand?
~Ang

Okay so I have been reading your blog for close to 3 years now and I finally made my own iced coffee!!! I mixed over ice equal parts coffee (from yesterday that I chilled in the fridge) with unsweetened almond breeze. I added in a few drops of liquid stevia and holy crappola…I may never drink hot coffee again. 🙂

Thanks for this. I started getting more into iced coffee thanks to you.. I started drinking it at Tim Horton’s (in Canada) and even at McDonalds. Even though it is cheaper than my usual Moka (at $3 – $5 a pop) it still seemed like it was too expensive every day. I started doing this and It’s so good I can’t get enough.

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I have ulcerative colitis and I have not had a hot cup of coffee for almost 2 weeks now because it makes me so sick when I drink it. A friend of mine suggested that I try drinking iced coffee instead but I haven’t tried it yet. After reading this I think I will try it. I do miss my coffee so much and if I can have it this way that would be great! How much soy milk/ Ensure/and/or vanilla protein powder do you use in your iced coffee?

Hi. I know this post is old, but I tried making the iced coffee today. It was good, but yours looks darker. I added 1 cup coffee, 1 cup soy milk and some ice & coffee flavoring. Wondering what your ratio is. I think I will do about 1 cup coffee and 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk next time. Tasted really good though. Just too white looking. Wasn’t very strong.

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Um, you like strong coffee so you put heaping spoonfuls?? At one tablespoon per 16oz(2cups), thats crazy. Considering for regular hot coffee most coffee directions say to put the opposite, 2 Tablespoons of coffee for 6-8 oz(1cup) of water. And coffee doesnt have that long of a shelf life after cooked,(cold brew is another story) flavor starts going south after about 8 hours, sometimes sooner, depending on how long its been on the burner. But maybe people like that old taste.
Starbucks iced coffee ratio is 1-3-3, one cup of coffee, for 3 cups of water, and 3 cups of ice. Make the coffee hot brew, then put the 3 cups of ice in a pitcher and stir, then put ice in your glass, pour your coffee over your ice. Sweeten and flavor as desired.